Tension as Senator Adokwe escapes assassination attempt

Senator Adokwe, who related the ugly experience to journalists at his Lafia residence, alleged that some overzealous supporters of a rival political party, who were embittered by his victory at the polls, wanted to send him to an early grave.
  
He disclosed that before the attack, he had received several calls from his polling agent who reported to him that government officials were trooping to the collation centre to influence the results of the election.

He noted that based on that development he decided to visit the collation centre located at St. Williams Primary School.
  
According to Adokwe, “On reaching there at about 12.30pm, some hoodlums started shouting and bullying me, saying ‘leave our town and go to your village.’ Before I knew what was happening they started throwing stones and iron rods at me.
  
“If not for God and my driver, who was smart enough to whisk me away, I would have been dead, because you can see how my side glass and back windshield were smashed by those huge with stones. To my greatest shock the security agents were watching and did nothing to intervene. As we were driving out, the state governor, Tanko Al Makura also drove in.”
  
He added that he immediately put a call across to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adebola Longe, and narrated the attempt on his life, stressing that the CP assured him that he would reinforce the area and provide additional security around him.
  
Longe, who confirmed the incident to journalists, reiterated his assurances to deploy more officers and to ensure there was no repeat of such ugly occurrence.
  
Meanwhile, the presidential and National Assembly election, which witnessed peaceful and massive turnout of voters, is turning violent mainly in the Southern Senatorial zone, where Governor Al Makura is contesting against the embattled Senator Adokwe.
 
State chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Comrade Francis Orogu, condemned the assassination attempt on the Senator, alleging that there was a deliberate delay of election results by the ruling party to short-change results of election where his party won massively.
 
“What is happening right now is that all the polling units where the PDP won with a wide margin, the elections in those places are being cancelled with claim that there were irregularities,” Orogu said. “At about 4:00pm of Sunday, no result from the local governments has reached the state headquarters collation centre.”